Arthur "Art" Wolfswift Like usual, Art stood apart from the group. Angry, fed up, and just plain tired, he was too old to argue with a bunch of kids. To him, the bike shop brought hope of supplies, repairs, and if he were lucky, something to drink. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon what can be found all too easily across the Wastelands, death. Dahvin glared at Art, visibly angry. Even Jane seemed to be taking this personally, and Art didn't think she cared about anyone other than Kate. Art spoke up, “We have no idea who these people are, what they're capable of, or if they even deserve to be hunted down. This doesn't concern us.” “Don't deserve to be hunted down?” replied Dahvin. “A man was killed and eaten here. ”Art once helped Dahvin get revenge on the Horsemen that killed his family. This, however, apparently did not quench his thirst for vengeance, and now it would appear that any family would suffice. “Eaten by a bear!” said Jane. “That's pretty fucked up, don't you think?” “That's really fucked up,” replied Art, “Still, people get killed everyday and we don't go avenging everybody, do we? In fact I can think of a few dead bodies we left in our own wake.” That didn't even phase them. “We're just trying to survive out here,” spoke Jane, “we're not murderers. Anyways, what kind of monster feeds someone to a bear?” “A crazy bastard, that's who. And they're all over the damn place. Shit, Dahvin, we worked with some crazy bastards, and you know well enough to steer clear of crazy.” Art just wanted to get out of here and never look back. To move away from trouble, not towards it. “And what are we going to do if we do catch up with them? Fight them? They could be better armed than us. They have a goddamned bear for one. All we have is a puppy.” “We could pick them off from a distance,” said Dahvin. “We have two long range rifles, one with a scope, and Harry said there were only a handful of them. We've faced far worse odds and come out on top.” “You only get one chance to fail.” Art took a drink from his water bottle and wished it was vodka. “What if the terrain favors them? What if they spot us before we spot them? What if their bear gets wind of us and tips them off? Fights never go the way you intend them to, you know that.” Clearly neither side here was willing to compromise. Art joined this group to protect them, not to lead them on misguided quests of justice. Art originally pegged them as nice group of kids that just wanted to stay out of trouble, but as Art should know, kids rarely stay out of trouble. “I going to talk this over with Kate.” said Art as he started to walk away. Jane began to follow him. “Alone.” said Art in a tone that he reserved for giving orders. She stayed put. Art approached Kate while she comforted Harvey Jr. Just a kid and already twice orphaned, he felt bad for Harvey, but everyone has their own personal tragedies. For a split second Art wondered exactly how many orphans he'd created. He promtly ignored that thought. “How is he?” “He's messed up Art,” she said quietly enough to make sure Harvey couldn't overhear her. “Messed up real bad.” Despite her delicate condition, Kate excelled at understanding and helping others. “My heart just breaks when I see something like this, reminds me of my own childhood, and of the raid a few weeks back, and, well, my life as a whole, unfortunately.” Kate reached over and caressed Harvey Jr.'s head. “It ain't right to do this to a kid. It's hard enough to grow up with someone watching over you, it's hell when you're on your own.” Art liked Kate. She had a good heart, and good hearts were rare in this world. She was also the only other one in the group who understood the importance of avoiding danger. Even so, she empathized too much with Harvey Jr. right now, so much so that even she agreed to go on this mission of revenge. Art spoke up, “He still has one dad left.” Kate shot him a look as if she couldn't believe what he just said. Art just ignored it, “And either way, killing more people isn't going to raise the dead, I think it's best to just move on.” Kate stood up and took Harvey Jr. by the hand. “When Jane has a goal set in mind, she tends to become very persistent, and it doesn't seem like you or Dahvin are any more flexible. But if we do get into a fight, we all need to be on the same page, and personally, I'd feel much safer if you had my back.” She flashed him a sad smile and disappeared behind the doorway, leaving Art alone with his thoughts. As much as Art hated this idea, he didn't want any of them to die either. He walked back over to Jane and Dahvin and asked, “When are you leaving?” Dahvin raised an eyebrow, “So you're with us then?” “You want to get in a firefight without me?” “Then let's get our stuff together and start to head out.” Dahvin grabbed his bag. “We have a lot of ground to cover.” Art gathered his supplies more leisurely than the others. The battle would come soon enough, it always does.
Like usual, Art stood apart from the group. Angry, fed up, and just plain tired, he was too old to argue with a bunch of kids. To him, the bike shop brought hope of supplies, repairs, and if he were lucky, something to drink. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon what can be found all too easily across the Wastelands, death.
Dahvin glared at Art, visibly angry. Even Jane seemed to be taking this personally, and Art didn't think she cared about anyone other than Kate. Art spoke up, “We have no idea who these people are, what they're capable of, or if they even deserve to be hunted down. This doesn't concern us.”
“Don't deserve to be hunted down?” replied Dahvin. “A man was killed and eaten here. ”Art once helped Dahvin get revenge on the Horsemen that killed his family. This, however, apparently did not quench his thirst for vengeance, and now it would appear that any family would suffice.
“Eaten by a bear!” said Jane. “That's pretty fucked up, don't you think?”
“That's really fucked up,” replied Art, “Still, people get killed everyday and we don't go avenging everybody, do we? In fact I can think of a few dead bodies we left in our own wake.”
That didn't even phase them. “We're just trying to survive out here,” spoke Jane, “we're not murderers. Anyways, what kind of monster feeds someone to a bear?”
“A crazy bastard, that's who. And they're all over the damn place. Shit, Dahvin, we worked with some crazy bastards, and you know well enough to steer clear of crazy.” Art just wanted to get out of here and never look back. To move away from trouble, not towards it. “And what are we going to do if we do catch up with them? Fight them? They could be better armed than us. They have a goddamned bear for one. All we have is a puppy.”
“We could pick them off from a distance,” said Dahvin. “We have two long range rifles, one with a scope, and Harry said there were only a handful of them. We've faced far worse odds and come out on top.”
“You only get one chance to fail.” Art took a drink from his water bottle and wished it was vodka. “What if the terrain favors them? What if they spot us before we spot them? What if their bear gets wind of us and tips them off? Fights never go the way you intend them to, you know that.”
Clearly neither side here was willing to compromise. Art joined this group to protect them, not to lead them on misguided quests of justice. Art originally pegged them as nice group of kids that just wanted to stay out of trouble, but as Art should know, kids rarely stay out of trouble. “I going to talk this over with Kate.” said Art as he started to walk away. Jane began to follow him. “Alone.” said Art in a tone that he reserved for giving orders. She stayed put.
Art approached Kate while she comforted Harvey Jr. Just a kid and already twice orphaned, he felt bad for Harvey, but everyone has their own personal tragedies. For a split second Art wondered exactly how many orphans he'd created. He promtly ignored that thought. “How is he?”
“He's messed up Art,” she said quietly enough to make sure Harvey couldn't overhear her. “Messed up real bad.” Despite her delicate condition, Kate excelled at understanding and helping others. “My heart just breaks when I see something like this, reminds me of my own childhood, and of the raid a few weeks back, and, well, my life as a whole, unfortunately.” Kate reached over and caressed Harvey Jr.'s head. “It ain't right to do this to a kid. It's hard enough to grow up with someone watching over you, it's hell when you're on your own.”
Art liked Kate. She had a good heart, and good hearts were rare in this world. She was also the only other one in the group who understood the importance of avoiding danger. Even so, she empathized too much with Harvey Jr. right now, so much so that even she agreed to go on this mission of revenge. Art spoke up, “He still has one dad left.” Kate shot him a look as if she couldn't believe what he just said. Art just ignored it, “And either way, killing more people isn't going to raise the dead, I think it's best to just move on.”
Kate stood up and took Harvey Jr. by the hand. “When Jane has a goal set in mind, she tends to become very persistent, and it doesn't seem like you or Dahvin are any more flexible. But if we do get into a fight, we all need to be on the same page, and personally, I'd feel much safer if you had my back.” She flashed him a sad smile and disappeared behind the doorway, leaving Art alone with his thoughts.
As much as Art hated this idea, he didn't want any of them to die either. He walked back over to Jane and Dahvin and asked, “When are you leaving?”
Dahvin raised an eyebrow, “So you're with us then?”
“You want to get in a firefight without me?”
“Then let's get our stuff together and start to head out.” Dahvin grabbed his bag. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”
Art gathered his supplies more leisurely than the others. The battle would come soon enough, it always does.